Hyperliquid Whale Expands Brent Short To $24M As U.S.-Iran Talks Revive

A Hyperliquid whale increased its Brent crude short to approximately $24 million as oil markets reopened sharply lower following renewed diplomatic activity between the United States and Iran.

Wallet 0xebe126adabe1a8f08d3ce53b45e7cc994ca14070 held the short through Hyperliquid’s xyz:BRENTOIL perpetual market, with Hyperdash tracking about $1.7 million in unrealized profit after Monday’s decline.

The position was not a newly opened nine-figure oil trade, as several social media posts claimed. Onchain Lens identified the wallet’s Brent short at roughly $17.1 million on July 23, alongside a larger short in SK Hynix-linked contracts and smaller bearish positions across Samsung, Nvidia and Hims & Hers. Total exposure stood near $64.9 million after the trader deposited 31.12 million USDC over three days.

The wallet is pseudonymous. No public evidence connects its owner to Axios, the White House or anyone holding nonpublic information.

Oil Drops As Washington And Tehran Respond

The United States and Iran submitted formal responses to a Pakistani-Qatari proposal aimed at restarting negotiations, Al Arabiya and Al Hadath reported Sunday. Iran had suspended talks rather than withdrawn and remained prepared to continue dialogue under the existing U.S.-Iran memorandum, a regional source said.

The diplomatic push followed two consecutive nights without U.S. strikes after nearly two weeks of military operations. President Donald Trump declined to authorize another proposed attack on Friday and said Washington was continuing discussions with Tehran.

Brent crude fell 4.2% to $92.74 in early Asian trading, while WTI dropped toward $85 as markets reduced part of the supply premium tied to the conflict and the Strait of Hormuz. Iran would halt retaliatory attacks while the U.S. pause remained in place, a senior Iranian official said.

Hyperliquid’s commodity perpetuals remain open during weekends, allowing traders to reposition before CME and ICE futures resume. The platform’s growing oil activity has already prompted CME and ICE to raise manipulation and market-surveillance concerns around anonymous, continuously traded commodity contracts.

Earlier Trades Draw Regulatory Scrutiny

Suspiciously timed oil positions have surfaced repeatedly during shifts in U.S. policy toward Iran. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission began examining trades placed on CME and ICE before earlier ceasefire announcements, including an approximately $950 million bearish bet opened hours before an April policy reversal. That investigation has not been linked to the current Hyperliquid wallet.

The latest decline also follows earlier market swings in which U.S.-Iran deal reports drove liquidations across Bitcoin and oil-sensitive positions. The growth of 24-hour commodity trading has since pushed the CFTC to review CME’s separate plan for round-the-clock WTI futures.